Energy
The weaponisation of Nord Stream 2 has already started
Global market trends surely play a role in explaining the current gas price rally, but the shell game played by the Kremlin is here for everyone to see unless we choose to look the other way, writes Mykhailo Gonchar.Promoted content
Europe must avoid the trap of energy poverty
Soaring energy prices call for a innovative solution. As people in Spain have taken to the streets protesting a sharp 35% increase in electricity bills, the government of Socialist Prime Minister Sánchez reacted swiftly. It announced a reduction in taxes...
Time for EU and UK to step up cooperation on offshore wind
With the COP26 coming up, now is the time for the EU to engage with the UK to set an ambitious political objective that would help accelerate progress in developing offshore wind in the North Seas, write Simon Skillings and...Promoted content
The Next Revolution in Green Energy is Coming from Right Beneath our Feet
The energy industry is at a moment of reckoning. As the global energy demand continues to double and triple, climate change will not wait for us to solve the green energy conundrum on our own schedule. John Redfern is the...
How the European Central Bank can unleash the building renovation wave
Trillions is needed for the deep building renovations required to meet Europe's climate targets. To make this happen, EU institutions need to use the network of banks across Europe and incentivise loans for home renovation, argue finance campaigners.
A giant leap towards energy sustainability: The African single electricity market
Creating a single electricty market across Africa is an immmense task, but will mean cheaper, reliable and renewable electricity, increasing the number of people who have access to power, writes Johan van den Berg.
Achieving climate neutrality will depend on how we decarbonise our building stock
Effiecient, technological and smarter buildings should be the cornerstone of Europe's decarbonisation, but more effort needs to go towards renovating the bloc's current building stock, writes Seán Kelly.
Trust, not control: Germany, EVs and the power of consumer choice
Faced with the challenge of integrating electric vehicles without jeopardising power system reliability, Germany's federal energy ministry started work with distribution system operators on a new tariff design. What followed is a cautionary tale, write Andreas Jahn, Jaap Burger, Jan Rosenow.
It’s high time to make the EU’s buildings directive fit for 2030 and beyond
The make-or-break decade for deep cuts in energy consumption and carbon emissions has already begun, writes Oliver Rapf. Now it’s time to radically revise our legislation, in particular the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), he argues.
Coal mine methane: a missed opportunity for EU’s CBAM
The EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism had an opportunity to include methane in its scope and act against sources of the potent greenhouse gas, but this was left out of the final published draft. Future EU climate legislation cannot afford to make the same mistake, writes Anatoli Smirnov.
How to regulate hydrogen networks
The need for regulating networks for transporting hydrogen is becoming increasingly urgent, but the legislation needs to be designed in a way to give the market flexibility to overcome the challenges ahead, writes Noé van Hulst.
Sustainable living space in a world of limits: a need for dialogue
Challenges to ecological and social sustainability require us to integrate limits to resource consumption into all areas, including residential space, write Doris Fuchs, Sylvia Lorek, Pia Mamut and Nils Blossey.
Greek fires: Blaming climate change is only the start, phasing out fossil fuels is the rest
If Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is to help save Greece – and the planet – from the climate emergency, the changes his government must make are dramatic, writes Jonathan Gant.
A carbon neutral Europe? Not without the Balkans!
Increasing their share of renewable energy is crucial to the Western Balkans, but this must be done using the right technology for the region and with support from the European Union, argue Viola von Cramon-Taubadel and Thomas Waitz.
Carbon pricing in buildings and transport is necessary but must be done well
Without pricing CO2 emissions from buildings and transport, Europe will miss its -55% emissions target, but it must be introduced bearing in mind the political and societal risks, particularly in countries like Poland, writes Joanna Maćkowiak-Pandera.
Carbon pricing in buildings? Help renovate and fuel-switch to renewables first
Including buildings in an emissions trading scheme will have a limited impact on emissions. The EU must also focus on an ambitious revision of the energy performance of buildings directive to ensure that emissions are sufficiently decreased, writes Monica Frassoni.Promoted content
EFDN Members Commit to their Environmental Roles with Sustainable Initiatives
The European Football for Development Network highlights diverse initiatives brought by football clubs to commit to environmental issues. In Belgium and Norway, two clubs have settled new initiatives to develop sustainable changes to their stadium.
Tackling energy poverty is a non-negotiable part of the green transition
Europe's new climate legislation must focus on renovating its inefficient buildings and lifting millions of people out of energy poverty, but that is only possible if the EU works together with local governments, writes Emil Boc.Special ReportPromoted content
How to reconcile the different interests in the “Fit for 55” package?
Though all Member States backed EU’s higher target of a net domestic reduction of greenhouse gases emissions by at least 55% until 2030 compared to 1990, recently proposed regulatory solutions may deepen a division between countries, when it comes to...
Europe’s hydrogen split: blue vs green and north vs south
The only element keeping blue hydrogen projects alive are subsidies and as green hydrogen declines in cost more government subsidies will be needed. This might be good for Shell and Exxon but is unlikely to be popular with voters, writes Mike Parr.
Europe fiddles while forests burn
The European Commission's approach to using forest wood for energy could prove a faux pas ahead of the COP26 UN climate summit in November, a dangerous move which contradicts the findings of the EU executive's own research department, writes Peg Putt.Promoted content
Oil and gas needs the courage to reinvent itself
By unveiling the ambitious climate package “Fit for 55”, the European Commission showed that the EU’s climate law adopted in April can have teeth. The proposed overhaul of the EU’s regulatory environment is necessary to deliver on the promise to...Promoted content
Upscaling hydrogen for 55: The EU should hedge its bets
On the eve of the publication of the highly anticipated Fit-for-55 Package, many questions remain unanswered about how the EU plans to approach hydrogen. Johannes Trüby is Director/ Economic Advisory at Deloitte. From costs and investments, to infrastructure, imports and...